I Promise
by HarveyC510
Summary: A more romantic yet tragic take of the last parts of the movie. An alternate and sadder version of the battle scene and the ending. HiccupxAstrid relationship. Warning: Tragedy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone. This is one of the first fanfictions I have ever written. A little about myself. I am 17 years old and I am NOT a writer. This is the first time I actually wrote on my spare time so it probably has a lot of errors. So go easy on me.**

**Anyways, this story is an alternate to the battle scene and final scene of the movie. So you can say it is an alternate ending. However, this is a more romantic yet tragic ending, so be warned. It's sad.**

**Hope you enjoy it! Constructive criticism welcomed, but go easy on my, I know I'm not that good .**

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**So for this scene, just imagine Hiccup just got Toothless out of the water and is about to be on his way to the battle. Astrid, rather than fighting with the other teenagers like in the movie, is doing something else. Read on!**

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Smoke and fog clouded her vision as viking were scattered in all directions. Screams and explosions could be heard, some far, some near, and everything was in complete chaos as the green death pummeled everything in its sight with its massive hands.

Astrid ran through the pack of vikings, heading the opposite direction as the rest of them were going and towards the danger that was before her. "Hiccup?!" she yelled as she maneuvers around the panicking vikings, looking for the boy. "Hiccup, where are you?!"

She was at the verge of tears as she started feeling helpless, as there is no way she can find Hiccup over all this chaos. Astrid couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario. What is he doing right now? What if he can't handle the dragon by himself? What if something happens to him? What if he's already gone...?

No, stop it Astrid, she thought. Of course he is ok, don't think like that. He's strong, stronger than most vikings think he is. She is the only one that knows the true Hiccup, the only one who look pasts the scrawny features of his body and see how strong he truly is. He has the strongest heart Astrid has ever seen in a viking, and he is the bravest viking she has ever met. Hiccup's fine, he's fine, he's ok...

Oh, why can't things just stay the way they were? Only yesterday was life a lot simpler. It was wake up, train, eat, go to bed. That was that. But look at her now. She's worrying about a boy who showed her the wonders of flying a dragon, reminiscing about the romantic flight she and hiccup went on, how she has never felt as happy or as loved in her life. In a matter of days her world was turned upside down as she realizes who Hiccup really is. He is a kind, caring, brave, and smart viking who cares about her and is worth more than people value him as. He is just so different, different in a way that Astrid loves. She loves him. All of him.

And now that she finally realized that, she is not going to let that slip away from her. She just can't.

Her determination however was quickly shut down as she looks at the scene around her. There were so many cries of terror that she doubts her voice can even travel a few feet in front of her. She sees in the distance the green death destroying their ships and vikings sank to their deaths in the ocean. She watches the scene in horror, but she can't give up. She has to find him.

In the midst of all this chaos, the last thing she thought about was tripping, which is what happened as she trips over a rock, landing face first onto the hard rocky surface of the floor. The mixture of fear, sadness, and the pain of falling finally got to her as she could stand it anymore. She doesn't even bother to get up as tears started to pour down her eyes, the sound of her sobbing muffled by the screams of the people in the distance. Luckily, the vikings have already moved farther away from the area of the battle so no one saw her as she cried her eyes out.

Why has she become like this? What happen to the confident, cocky Astrid? When has she ever cried for a guy, or cried at all for that matter?

But this isn't just some guy, this is Hiccup. The wonderful, shy, awkward, cute Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III that made her feel happy and special. He is someone who she finally felt open enough to express her emotion to and just like that he's gone. And thinking about that just made her cry even more. She shuts her eyes tight as more tears came out, hoping this is all a dream and all this would go away.

She laid there crying for who knows how long when she heard it. "Astrid!" a voice said in the distance. She heard that familiar voice before, but did not bring her hopes up as she stayed lying there with her eyes closed. "Astrid!" the voice says again, but much louder. She glances up with her tear filled eyes and saw in the sky the approaching figure of the giant blue dragon and the familiar face of his owner.

"Hiccup!" she exclaims as she got up as fast as possible, wiping her eyes on her sleeves as the dragon landed a few meters in front of her. She couldn't help but smile in the middle of all this, seeing her man safe and sound.

"Astrid, is everything ok?" Hiccup asked. "You're not hurt are you?" She heard the concern in his voice, and she thought how cute it was that he cared about her so much. A bubble of happiness stirred in Astrid's chest. "Listen Astrid, I..."

But before Hiccup could say another word, Astrid grabs both his cheeks with her hands and kisses him deeply. Hiccup's eyes grow wide with surprise, but gradually closed as they both embraced the kiss. He places his hands on Astrid's waist as Astrid wraps her arms around his neck. With all the chaos happening in her life and around them, she is glad to have something real with her, something that she has that doesn't cause pain or sadness and is just pure happiness. And for a moment, it seemed to the two of them that all the problems in the world just disappeared and only the two of them existed. It was bliss.

A loud explosion and more screams from the distance brought the two back to the reality as they pulled away from each other. They both quickly flashed a grin at the idea of their first kiss, but Hiccup quickly puts on a stern face.

"Astrid, listen," he continued. "I am so glad you are ok. Please, you need to get out of here. It's dangerous. I need to go and help the others stop all this."

"No!" Astrid cries, louder than Hiccup expected, which made him jump a little in shock. "Please don't go!" She throws her body at him and wraps her arms tightly around Hiccup's torso, Hiccup jumping back a bit and feeling slightly awkward on where to place his hands.

"Astrid!" Hiccup exclaimed. He decides to very gently try to push her away, but she wouldn't budge. Partly because she is gripping so tightly but partly because he loves the feeling of her embrace, no matter what situation they were in. "Please Astrid, I don't want to leave but I have to. I need to fix this! This was all my fault, I have to at least try. The fate of the vikings depends on it!"

"No!" Astrid said, pouting like a crying child. "I thought I lost you! I don't want to lose you again! Please!"

Hiccup looks down at the sight below him, the girl whom he was in love with for so long, wrapped around him, begging him to stay with her. Hiccup never saw her this emotional before, which made him understand just how much he meant to Astrid. He want to stay with her more than anything in the world, but has a job to do, and if he can't do it, then no one can. As much as it pains him to say it, he has to go.

"Don't worry about me," Hiccup said, rubbing his right hand on Astrid's back to soothe her. "Everything will be alright. It will be over soon."

"But...but..." Astrid stuttered as her tears are starting to come back, but she fought hard to hold them in. She wants to show Hiccup that she is a strong woman, even though at that moment she wishes she can just be in Hiccup's embrace forever. She manages to breathe through her tears and tries to speak as steadily as possible. "Just...promise me you will be ok? Please?"

She looks up and stares at him with her big blue eyes that were filled with fear and concern. But as Hiccup looks down at the girl of his dreams staring mere inches away from him, with her arms wrapped around his body, he was struggling to think of how to answer that. He is usually a logical person, and the logical answer is that there is always a chance that he won't come back. And the fact that he is, well, Hiccup, there is always a chance that something will go horribly wrong.

"Hiccup?" She said, her voice starting to shake as she is dreading the answer. Hearing his name said in such a heartbreaking way, he decides he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her the truth. All he could say was...

"Of course. We're vikings, it's a occupational hazard." he said as confidently as possible as he forced a small smile. Astrid did the same, even though inside she knows he was only saying it to make her feel better, but it still helped. Hiccup pushes Astrid off of his chest a few inches in front of him. He holds both her shoulders with his hands, their faces staring at each other. God she is so beautiful, Hiccup thought, and that only makes it so much harder to leave.

He stares into her eyes and said as strongly as possible: "I will be back as soon as I can. I promise."

She stared back at Hiccup's beautiful eyes and seeing them made her say the first thing that popped into her head.

"I love you, Hiccup."

This was the first time she actually said this to him, the first time she said this to anyone. But she does love him. She loves the awkward Hiccup whom she knew for almost all her life. She loves how awkward he can be sometimes. She loves the way he tries to joke around with his sarcastic humor, or when he talks about his new inventions. She loves his smile, his laugh, his concern for her well being. She really does, in fact, love him. Everything about him.

Hiccup felt a little kid who just got a compliment as his stomach quickly filled with butterflies, but his anxiousness of the events that lay before him snapped him out of his giddy trance. Usually in situations like this he tends to over think things, which ends up in him saying something weird or awkward. He knew Astrid for most of his life, and he had always dreamed of Astrid telling him that she likes him back, but he never thought of what to say afterwards. But here he is, time was running out, he has to go, and Astrid just said to him the thing he wanted to hear from her his whole life. And in this moment, he didn't even think about what to say as he went with what his heart told him.

"I love you too, Astrid."

He gave her a assertive kiss on the lips, Astrid loving the fact that he initiated, and then he grudgingly turned away from her and headed towards his dragon. He hops onto Toothless' back as he takes one last glance at Astrid. Even in the middle of all this, even when her eyes are full of sadness and concern, Hiccup still can't get over the fact of how beautiful she is. For a few seconds, they just looked at each other, both trying to hold back their tears as they didn't want the other to see their weakness. "Go." Astrid said simply. He looks away and takes off, not because Astrid told him to, but because he simply can't hold in his tears anymore. The wind whipped his eyes, which finally caused tears to leak out. "We can do this Toothless." he said to his dragon as he wiped the tears away from his face. "For all the viking of Berk. For Astrid. We have to do this!"

The dragon roared in approval, and with the adrenaline pulsing through his veins, the dragon swiftly moved through the air and headed towards the hideous green death in the distance.

"Looks like it has wings." Hiccup said. "Let's see if it can use them!"

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**Thanks for reading guys! There will be 2-3 more chapters after this that I'll post this week or the next. To give a heads up of where the next chapter will jump to, I basically skipped the battle scene as the same thing will happen in this story as it did in the movie. The part that I changed and will start being different is the scenes that happen after [NEXT CHAPTER SPOILERS]:**

**...Hiccup starts to fall from the sky.**

**That is where the next chapter will pick up at. Please review, I appreciate it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading guys, here's the next chapter. Review if you can please, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!**

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**So basically, the second that I didn't write was the battle scene, which we all can see from the movie. The part where this chapter is picking up from is right where the green death crashes onto the island. Let's see what happens.**

*BOOM*

The green death crashes onto the surface of the island, creating a massive explosion paired with a giant shock wave that pulsed through the area. Astrid and the vikings shielded their eyes as the might beast fell at last.

000000000000000000000

Come on, come on, Hiccup said to himself as he and Toothless flew up, away from the expanding explosion. He glances back at the fin he made for Toothless, almost completely burned away from the flame of the green death. Praying that the fin can last a little longer, he continues to fly up, outrunning the flame that is creeping up behind him and dodging various body parts of the dragon. He flies higher, and higher, and he can almost the clearing of the open sky, just a little more...

But when Hiccup turned around again, he sees the fin finally give out as it snaps off of Toothless' tail. His eyes widen in horror as he turns back ahead of him and sees them approaching the deadly tail of the green terror.

"No..." Hiccup said. What is he going to? He has one second to find out how to dodge it, how to survive this, he need to come up with something. But it was approaching him too fast and all he can think of was to shout...

"NO!"

*THUMP*

The tail of the mighty beasts strikes hard onto Toothless and his rider, causing the two to turn over and fall into the pit of fire below them. As he fell from the skies, Hiccup watched above as his dragon flew towards him, hoping to find a way to save him. In the split second before being enveloped by the flames, parts of his life flashes before his eyes. The good parts. The feeling of flying Toothless for the first time, the feeling of Astrid on his back, her soft lips lightly wrapped around his...

There was flash of orange light as the flames enveloped him, the quick feel of Toothless' scaly wings, and all became white.

000000000000000000000

There were no cheers of triumph and no happy faces as they were all still shocked from the event that enfolded before them, all wondering the fate of the boy who they use to think was a nobody and now praying that his was ok. Astrid stood there, frozen, not knowing what to think, and finally came back to her senses when a loud voice boomed above the crowd.

"Out of my way!" yelled Stoick, as he pushed through the crowd and ran into the fog and smoke. There was a sea of murmurs as the rest of the crowd followed in after him, knocking Astrid over who was still standing there frozen. However she quickly regained her composure and followed behind the pack of vikings.

They ran towards the scene of the crash, seeing the various body parts of the green death scattered throughout the ground, and looking for any signs of Hiccup and his dragon. Please be ok, Astrid thought, please, dear god, please.

The pack of vikings started to slow down in front of her and the murmurs gradually died down, and finally everyone came to a stop and there was only silence. Astrid pushed the vikings in front of her aside, trying to get into the front of the pack to see what was happening in the front, but dreading the answer at the same time. At last, she pushes through the last few vikings and into the clearing and sees what everyone was looking at.

Toothless was on the ground, still stirring very weakly, and next to him, was the image of Stoick on his knees, sobbing into the chest of Hiccup as the boy was wrapped around his arms. Hiccup's eyes were closed.

Astrid didn't want to jump to conclusions. Maybe he just fainted. She carefully watches for any sign of life, a flicker of his eyelids, a small expansion of his chest, a single sound.

But there was nothing.

It was as if needles were slowing pricking at her heart as she started to see more and more the fate of her love. She stood there with a blank expression, but with sadness filling all aspects of her face. She slowly moves forward, out of the pack of vikings who stood behind her as she approaches Hiccup and his dad.

Stoick started to wail loudly, causing a few viking to usher him away from the scene, away from seeing Hiccup's body, as Astrid approached the body herself. She gets on her knees and hovers her body over his and looks down at the man who changed her life.

If she didn't know any better, she would have thought he was sleeping. His face looked so peaceful laying there, even with all the lacerations and burns covering his body. She didn't touch him at first, but rather stared at his expressionless face with his eyes closed and facial features frozen.

"Hiccup." Astrid whispered, with the slightest shake in her voice. Maybe he was just playing one of his bad tricks again. Maybe he's just asleep. She cupped her hands on his cheeks, still feeling the lukewarm feeling of the the last bits of his body heat.

"Wake up Hiccup." she continued, rubbing her thumb across his cheek, her voice getting shakier by the second. Her voice gets more and more desperate as the body refused to stir. Her eyes grow sadder as the truth started to grow upon her.

"Please Hiccup," Astrid sobbed, feeling the tears roll down her face. Her hands started to shake. "Wake up. You promised. You said you'd be back soon. You said everything was going to be alright, right? Hiccup!" Her voice gets louder as she gets closer and closer to his face.

"You promised!" She cries. "Hiccup!" She pulls his head of the ground and kisses him multiple times, hoping he would wake up. "Why aren't you waking up?!" Astrid was becoming more and more hysterical as she wraps her arms around the body, squeezing him as hard as she can. "You said everything would be all right." she starts to cry, sobbing like she had never done before in her life. "YOU PROMISED!"

She couldn't take it anymore as she lets go of his body, letting it slump back down onto the ground as she falls down on the top of it and cries onto Hiccup's chest.

"No..." she whispers, tired from all the emotions she been feeling that day. "No please, you can't be dead, please..." She doesn't understand what has happened to her. What is this feeling in her chest that feels like her heart is being ripped out? She has never felt this way before about anyone, and now that person is gone. Why is she reacting so badly like this? She realizes she has never felt this kind of love before. And when Hiccup was still here she loved this new feeling of caring for someone, longing to be with them, to laugh and to spend time together. But now, he is gone, gone from the world she is living in right now, her first true love disappeared in an instant.

She felt a felt of soft hands gently pull her by her arms, urging her to leave, and by the feel of the smooth hair tickling her shoulder, it was probably Ruffnut. But she didn't yield. She latched back onto Hiccup and held him even tighter in her arms as she cried harder.

"NO!" she cried to Ruffnut, or more like begged. She turned back to Hiccup, looking at him face to face. "No please, you can't be dead! Please Hiccup! Please...!" Another viking came and reached out to carry Hiccup's body, but Astrid swooped an arm out to keep them away. "Please!" she cried. "Don't take him away!" She knows eventually she has to let them take the body away, but she can't seem to let him go. She couldn't help but feel that he can come back, that somehow all this would be ok in the end.

But what's the point? No matter how much she denies it, it won't make him come back. It won't bring back his cheesy smile, his lame jokes, his cute personality, they were all gone. She continues to not let any of the vikings take him away from her. The vikings didn't feel annoyed, because they understood what she was feeling. As Astrid looked around, she sees the vikings just standing there, watching her in sorrow. She then glances back at Hiccup's dead face.

And it finally hit her.

He was dead.

Gone.

Her muscles relaxed when this realization hits her and she lets go of him. She gives up. He's gone. Forever. He's never coming back. And there was nothing that strong tough Astrid can do about it. She lays on the ground, crying a new set of tears into her arms as the body was carried away by a viking. She wonders if she will ever stop crying.

After who knows how long, her cries faded into quiet sobs, and she once again felt Ruffnut's hand on her shoulder. "Come on," Ruffnut said softly. "It's time to go home."

Astrid did a humorless laugh in her head. Home. Hmph. Of course she still had to go home. To the sad home on the island of Berk where Hiccup use to live and work in. Does she even want to live in a home anymore, a home where Hiccup is not in?

She finally stopped crying except for the occasional sniffle, her eyes red and dry. She was silent as she walked but everyone could tell from the sorrow on her face that she is still crying inside. Even as she did her best to walk with the strut that she had been so use to being a dragon fighter, it was not enough to hide the sadness that was in her eyes.

She approached the charred ships as she saw a large dark figure walk next to her on her left. It was Toothless. He looked a little beat up, with various scars on his body and bandages wrapped around different limbs, and seeing his face, Astrid knew he was feeling the same way as her. The dragon let out a small cry as she reached out and hugged him, Toothless getting on his two feet and hugging her back. Even though Toothless was a big scary dragon, she felt the warmth pulse through his body, and the feeling of being hugged by someone who knows what she is going through helped ease the pain a little bit.

She pulls backs and pets the dragon's head as she gestured him onto the ship. She follows in after him, and the both of them finds a spot of the edge of the boat. They silently stare off into the vast ocean, thinking about the events that happened that day, and wondering if things will ever be the same again. She heard the captain shout, the sails came up, and the boat started moving on course back to the island of Berk.

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**I don't know about you, but I felt really sad writing this. Please review, thanks!**

**The next chapter will be up this week or the next. It will be on the immediate aftermath of this event. Stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to all who read, followed, and/or reviewed. I appreciate it, will be 1-2 more chapters after this. Probably 1. Read on!  
**

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**One Week Later**

_"Don't worry about me," Hiccup said, rubbing his right hand on Astrid's back to soothe her. "Everything will be alright. It will be over soon."_

_She manages to breathe through her tears and tries to speak as steadily as possible. "Just...promise me you will be ok? Please?"_

_He stares into her eyes and said as strongly as possible: "I will be back as soon as I can. I promise."_

_He hops onto Toothless' back as he takes one last glance at Astrid. For a few seconds, they just looked at each other, both trying to hold back their tears as they didn't want the other to see their weakness. "Go." Astrid said simply. He looks away and takes off..._

"Wait, no, don't go..." Astrid mumbles in her sleep. "You're going to die...Hiccup, wait! NO! HICCUP!"

The sun glared through the window, waking up the female viking from her slumber. She rubs her eyes awake, feeling the irritation in her eyes from the excessive crying over the past week. Or maybe it's due to the fact that she can barely get any sleep from having the same constant nightmare every night. She's amazed she got any sleep at all these past couple of days, because she was dreading this day. The day that she wonders whether she can keep herself from falling apart. The day where she finally puts the nail in the coffin that solidifies the death of the boy.

Today was it. The day of Hiccup's funeral.

Today is the day Astrid has to truly accept and let go of the boy she loved. He is gone, away from this world and in a few hours, sunk deep underneath the waters of the ocean. She stirs in her bed for a couple of minutes, wanting more than anything to be able to shut her eyes and escape this horrible world, but knowing at the same time that sleeping wouldn't help.

Over the past week, she tried her best to move on and forget about the past. Well she can throw that idea out the window, because all she could think of is the fact that the man she loved, the first man she loved, is dead. She knows it isn't her fault, but a little bit of her can't help but think that if only she told him to stay with her, to not go into the danger and risk his life, he might still be here today. Every night she has the same nightmare of her saying "Go" to Hiccup, and realizing she basically said goodbye to the love of her life. This haunted her memory as she wished she could have done something differently, said something differently, anything that could have saved his life. She couldn't help but think his death was her fault.

Ugh, she need something else to get her mind off of this. She finally steps off her bed, too tired to even stretch out her aches and sores as she approaches her mirror and closet. Looking at the mirror, Astrid examines herself. A week of trying to sleep without regards to anything else in her life really took a toll on her appearance. Her body was slightly thinner, as she hasn't been eating well, or at all for that matter. She sees the dark creases of being sleep deprived hang under her eyelids, with various patches of dirt all over her face and body. Even though it's been a week since the events took place, she was too depressed to care for her personal hygiene. Know the event she is about to attend, the least she can do to show some respect for the man who cared so much about her was to be clean.

She took a shower, spending what seemed a lifetime scrubbing off the stains from her body. She washes the dirt and grime off her hair and afterwards dries herself as she proceeds to quickly brush her teeth and hair. After the hour long process of finally cleaning herself, she sighs heavily as she feels wonderful from being so clean. She almost forgot how it feels like to feel good for once. She goes to her closet and pulls out a set of her usual green shirt, studded leather skirt, and metal shoulder pads, and proceeds to put them on as she steps in front of the mirror and looks at herself.

She noticed how her hair still hasn't been tied into her usual braid yet, so her long blonde hair flowed freely behind her back. Even in the mood she is in right now, she couldn't help but think that she actually looks pretty decent with this hair. She spins a few time, looking at her hair flow from different angles and noticing how nicely it shined in the sunlight, and she even smiles a little bit as she admires her looks. If Hiccup were here right now, she bet he would be awkwardly saying how beautiful she looked with her new hair...

Oh wait. He's not here. He's never going to be here anymore...

Her smile fades as she stops moving, instead now frozen and looking directly at herself, at exactly how sad she looked. Seeing herself look sad actually made her feel even worse, but she truly ran out of tears to be crying again. She takes her eyes off of her face in the mirror and moves down to see her body in the mirror, noticing the shoulder pads and the studded skirt.

"Hiccup _would_ say I was beautiful," she thought to herself. "I should look as pretty as if he were here to say that."

Did she just say _pretty?_ Since when did Astrid care about looking pretty?

Ever since she met a guy named Hiccup.

She gently removed the shoulder pads from her shoulders, revealing the smooth and pale yet unmistakably toned upper arm that she possesses, before marching over to her closet and reaching deep into the back before pulling out another leather skirt.

This was different though. The brown of it was a little lighter than the one she is wearing. Most importantly, it was completely free of metal spikes, and all that was there was a smooth outer leather covering. Astrid brushes off the dust and she stares at the skirt she is holding on. She really never wore it, it was just a gift from her mom for special occasions. She proceeds to remove her current skirt and quickly puts on the new one, and after securing it, she walks over to the mirror.

She looks at herself again and is shocked by how different she looks from a few changes. All she did was take off the shoulder pads, wear a new skirt, and put her hair down, and suddenly she looks completely different. She looks like another teenager now. Another teenage _girl. _Who loved a _guy. _Who spent time to look for the right _clothes_ for a guy who isn't even here anymore. She sees both her hands folded in front of her. Noticing exactly how _girly_ she looks, she quickly moves her hands by her sides and stiffens her upper body proudly to look like a dignified viking. She starts to reconsider her new makeover, but she remembers who she is doing it for, and Astrid knows Hiccup would have loved it.

She jumps in surprise as she realized that she spent over an hour to fix her look, something she has never done, and she quickly marches to the door to go outside, afraid that she might be late for the funeral. She glances at her axe which was placed next to the door, the axe that she carries with her wherever she goes. But she realizes that she probably shouldn't bring an axe when she wants to honor Hiccup's memory, so she steps outside without getting it, one of very few times in her life that she done so.

The sun blinded her for an instant as her eyes adjusted to the light. She looks over in the distance and sees that she is not late, but is certainly later that the rest of the vikings as most of them are already almost at the boats in the harbor where the ceremony will take place. She heaves a heavy sigh as she proceeds to walk down the hill of her house, following the pack of vikings ahead of her.

She couldn't have been walking for a minute before she heard her name being called behind her. "Astrid!" yelled the juvenile voice, as she turned around and saw Ruffnut approaching her, who was closely followed by Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs. Astrid just wants to be alone right now, but she appreciates the fact that they cared enough to come to her.

"Hi." Astrid said simply, brushing her hair away from her face. Now that she did that, all the teenagers stood there in surprise as they examined her body, trying to take in the fact that the girl in front of them was actually Astrid, even though she looks completely different. She looks beautiful. But perhaps this is the wrong time to talk about it.

"You...look nice." Ruffnut said hesitantly, flashing a smile, and Astrid can tell she was seriously. "Am I right guys?"

"Oh yeah. Mmm hmm. Yup. Definitely." the boys responded quickly, all slightly smiling as well. Astrid smiled back as she received the compliments. She know they were just trying to make her feel better, but she honestly thinks that they truly thought she looked nice and it makes her feel better.

"Thanks." Astrid said quietly. "I just changed it up a little. I was thinking that maybe if Hiccup was here, he would've like how I looked, you know..." Her voice slowly faded way.

The teen's face slowly changed into a solemn expression as they heard this. None of them knew what to say, but Ruffnut, being a girl, slowly went up to Astrid and embraced her in her arms. For a while none of them said anything, and when finally pulled back, the two girls just looked at each other, and Astrid sees the sympathy in Ruffnut's eyes. She wants to thank her for the hug, but she is having trouble articulating her thoughts as her head is filled with feelings of gratitude and sadness. The group of them remained silent as they started to walk again towards the harbor.

After around ten minutes, they finally reached the dock where the ceremony would take place. Vikings were scattered all over the area, just standing around and waiting for the ceremony to start as all of them didn't want to break the silence of this mournful event. The only sounds were the heavy shuffling of feet as the viking adjusted themselves to the spot they were standing on.

Astrid and the gang managed to wedge into a spot behind the front row with a clear sight to the front. She looks around and spots Toothless on top of the ship in front of her, his head and body laying down sadly on the ground, his eyes filled with grief. Next to the dragon was a viking, and Astrid spots him just before he blew on a horn which quieted every viking who was there.

The ceremony was about to begin.

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**Thanks for reading guys. Sorry I stopped here, but the chapter was getting kind of long. This chapter was mainly a filler, but the next chapter will jump right into the funeral and the aftermath of it. Please review, I would really appreciate it! Thanks.**

**It was really sad writing this :'( but at the same time, I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoy reading it.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here we go, the funeral. Thank you to the few reviews that you guys gave. Even though it's only a couple of you guys, you guys are my few special people. And it makes me feel very special (: **

**I would also like to say that I am sorry I killed Hiccup. But I wanted to write a tragedy so it is logical for a person we love to die to make it a tragedy. I don't know, I was just in the mood for it. Hope you like this chapter.  
**

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The sound of the horn blasted once again over the heads of all the vikings in the village. Everyone was silent as they waited for the next thing to happen.

Even though Astrid felt awful, she couldn't help but feel a little curious as well. This was going to be the first funeral she has ever attended, so she wonders how one actually takes place. The rest of the teens wonder the same thing, and all of them slowly turn their heads in all direction, trying to see anything that may be involved in this ceremony. She sees that the vikings were all standing a big group, standing in rows as even as they could possibly make it, with a wide gap right in between the pack of them. It was actually the same format the vikings used during weddings. How weird, Astrid thought, that they stand the exact same way in this tragic occasion as they do in a happy one. She and the other teens are in the row right behind the first, wanting to get a good look at the boy before he drifts off forever.

Astrid glances back up to the man on the boat and sees him standing there, staring off into the distance opposite to where she was facing. Astrid looks towards the direction he is facing to see what he was staring at. She wasn't the only one, as the entire crowd of vikings suddenly turned their heads towards the approaching figures.

Being that she was in the second row, she had a lot of vikings block the sight behind her, so she had to do quite a bit of moving to see what it was that was coming up. She manged to nudge her body right next to the center aisle and looked down the long path to see what everyone was looking at.

It was Stoick, walking down the aisle with a grand stature but with a face lined with sadness. Next to him were three other men. One was Gobber, his devoted right hand man, one she knows is Snotlout's dad since they look so much alike, and one that she believes is Ruffnut and Tuffnut's dad, but she has only seen him once before so she wasn't sure. The three adult vikings walked down the aisle with expressionless faces next to Stoick, all four of them carrying a corner of a large polished wooden box.

Astrid's heart dropped. It was Hiccup's _coffin._ He was literally in that very box. Part of her just wants to open it to see his face one last time and have the feel of his lips on hers one last time. But sheknows that after a week of sitting there, the body is probably really disgusting, making Astrid shudder at the thought of seeing a rotting body. She was then overcome by an immense feeling of sadness as she realized at that point she was never going to get to see Hiccup again. All this time she was hoping to be able to say one last goodbye to him, but she forgot that he was going to be in a coffin. This is terrible! She's not going to be able to say goodbye to him, or to properly thank him for the amazing dragon ride she went on and for the time they spent together. How is she suppose to say her goodbyes now?

Damn it, why did he have to die...?

The four viking men were approaching the front of the hushed crowd where Astrid was at. Stoick glanced at Astrid when he walked by her. The two of them just looked at each other for a second, not saying a word or showing an expression to each other. But when their eyes met, they both knew what they were feeling, the feeling of losing someone they loved.

The men placed the coffin down in front of the village elder, who was conducting the ceremony in front of the crowd. The coffin landed with a gentle thump as the priest silently nodded to the men as a thank you. The four of them went to their spots in the front row as the priest began to talk, his voice soaring above all the vikings there.

"Thank you everyone, for coming here today," the elder begins, "to the ceremony of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, where we wish him eternal happiness into the afterlife."

Hmph. Why the afterlife, Astrid thought. Why couldn't he be here, in the present life, in _her _life? Why couldn't he have eternal happiness with her, everyday, for the rest of their lives? Her eyes start to well up with tears.

"As most of us knows, Hiccup was a fine young gentleman. Born into the family of nobles, he had the courage of a viking to do what he did, and succeeded in defeating the village's most deadliest enemy. And for that, we should be grateful for as long as we live."

The priest continues to drone on for a long time as Astrid starts to zone out after the first few minutes. Over the course of the ceremony, she can hear words like strong, brave, intelligent, and many other positive anecdotes about his craftsmanship that makes Astrid wonders whether the priest even knew Hiccup.

Is she the only one who actually knew the real Hiccup? Did anyone know how he had a journal where he drew his inventions and his dragons? Or the way he stutters whenever he is with her? Does anyone know his sarcastic humor, his goofy smile, his cute awkwardness? Those are the true reason he should be remembered for, because she loved each and every one of those qualities about him. She loved _him._

And now he's gone...

Why did you leave me Hiccup? Why did you leave me alone in this world?

Astrid puts a hand on her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud, but her tears still streamed down silently on her face as the elder finally stops talking and prepares to cast the coffin off into the bottom of the ocean. The moment where Hiccup truly disappears from this world is about to arrive. She wishes Hiccup were here to make her feel better. She remembers the joyful feeling she gets when his body comes in contact with hers and how all her worries go away when she is with him, and she wishes he was here to do that. Luckily she feels Ruffnut's hand massage her back , helping her ease the pain as she stands there crying, watching the four men load the coffin of the very boy who loved her into the boat in front of them.

She turns away from the boat, refusing to watch her love go away, as she throws her arms around Ruffnut's neck and cries onto her shoulder. Normally Ruffnut would have beaten the crap out of Astrid, but right now, she knows that Astrid needs her.

"Shhhh, everything is going to be all right..." Ruffnut whispers to her. Astrid thought it sounded familiar...

_"Everything will be alright. It will be over soon."_

Astrid started to sob even louder as it reminded her of when Hiccup said that to her before he died. Everything will be alright, he said? Look at her now, everything is _not _alright. It is the exact opposite of alright. Ruffnut looks at the other teens for some advice as Astrid continued to cry on her, but the boys just stood there, not knowing how to help. Ruffnut just continues to rub on Astrid's back as tears continued to pour out of her eyes.

When she finally gets off of Ruffnut's shoulder, Astrid glances out to the ocean and see the boat carrying the coffin in the distance. In one quick second, the wooden box was lowered by a rope slowly down the side of the boat, and when the coffin was submerged, Stoick took his axe out and with one quick swoop, the rope was cut. Hiccup's body sank deep underneath the vast ocean.

And it was over.

Astrid just stands there, frozen, not knowing what to feel as she tries to take all of this in. She'll get through this, she told herself. She's a viking, a tough viking, the best viking in fact, and vikings don't cry over people who have been gone for a week already. She's fine, she's fine. She keeps repeating this to herself even though truly she felt horrible.

Astrid walked up to Snotlout and punched him in the guts, causing him to whimper in pain. "Come on guys, let's go train." Astrid said to the teens in the strong tough attitude that she is so famously known for. The young vikings stood there and looked at each other at Astrid's sudden change of emotion, but did not dare to ask her the reason.

"Let's go, what are you slowpokes waiting for?" she complained. She knows what she said didn't make sense, as they don't kill dragons anymore so there is no training. The teens, not knowing any better options, decided to follow Astrid out of the harbor and back into the village. She's glad no one pointed out her mistake to her. They follow the group of vikings in front of them, all starting to finally break the silence that hung over them for the past few hours.

They walked for less than a minute when Astrid stopped. "Wait!" she shouts. The vikings around her jumps in shock. She starts to blush. Maybe she shouldn't have said it so loud. "Umm...can you guys hold on for a second, I forgot...something...over by the harbor. Once again, the teens said nothing and just nodded and Astrid runs off back to the pier.

She goes back to the empty area where the ceremony took place. She walks past that area and out to the edge of the hill facing the ocean. The sun was starting to set, creating an orange glow which shined on the water. It was beautiful. If only she had someone to share it with.

There was one last thing she had to do. Something she didn't want to do, but knows she has to do it, or more like say it, in order to go on with her life. Even though it seemed easy, she had to prepare herself for a whole week in order to gain the strength to do this.

She stares out into the wide ocean waters and whispered the words, which flowed smoothly out her mouth like the the waves in front of her.

"Goodbye...Hiccup"

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**Poor Astrid ): Thanks for reading guys. Next chapter is probably the last chapter. Sorry but from what I have it seems like the next chapter will end it nicely. ****Follow the story and perhaps sometime in the future I will write more, but for now, the next chapter will be the last. **Comments would be lovely. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone! Thank you for the comments, reviews, and positive feedback! While this story doesn't have a giant bunch of reviews, I love how I have at least some people who are enjoying the story. So to the few of you who followed and/or commented, THANK YOU! You guys are really special.**

**This is the last chapter of the story. Sad ): Just a warning: This is labeled as a tragedy, because it is really, really, tragic. So please read at your own risk.**

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The vikings silently walked as they followed behind Astrid into the forest. She didn't say tell them why she went to the harbor, and frankly they were too afraid of asking since Astrid was was holding her deadly battleaxe that she picked up from her house after the ceremony. Ruffnut walked beside her on her right, occasionally glancing over at Astrid's face to see how she was feeling. It was unreadable as she stared ahead of them with a blank face. She's having a hard time, Ruffnut thought, so she didn't question her about how she felt.

They finally arrived at Astrid's favorite training spot in the middle of the forest. There were trees all around them, most of which contained deep jagged grooves made by Astrid repeatedly practicing her axe throw on them. The ground was grassy except for a certain section of it where Astrid frequently likes to practice her tumbling. Astrid looks at the sight in front of her and takes a deep breath, feeling the crisp winter air of the forest flow through her. For a while, Astrid just stood there with a blank expression on her face.

"So..." Ruffnut said hesitantly after a few minutes.,"What are we suppose to...?"

But before she could say anything more, Astrid lets out a loud shriek, thoroughly breaking the silence as she flings her axe towards the tree in front of her. The axe wedged itself into the tree with a large THUMP as Astrid screams again and tumble towards it to retrieve her axe.

The teens just stood there for a long time, not knowing whether they should join her or stay as far away from the axe as possible. Astrid continued to swing her axe and tumble without hesitation, screaming and shouting during each movement. At one point, she retrieves her axe and instead of throwing it, she grasped both her hands onto the it and swung it relentlessly onto the trunk of one of the trees. Her face contorted in anger as she swung again and again and again...

"Astrid...?" Ruffnut said to her. They were all standing behind Astrid, watching her angrily swing her axe at the thick trunk of the tree, now almost completely cut through. Ruffnut looked over at the guys and saw them stare at Astrid, not knowing what to do. Astrid doesn't reply, so Ruffnut decides to try again.

"Astrid, that enough." she said a little louder. Astrid continued to ignore her as the tree finally gave away and fell down onto the ground with an almighty crash. Ruffnut thought she was done, until she saw Astrid get on her knees with her back facing the vikings and kneeled in front of the fallen tree. She started to swing again at the trunk of the ground. The vikings raised their eyebrows at Astrid, wondering why she was so aggressive today. Astrid's face looked like she was in agony with her eyebrows cocked inwards and her nose scrunched up in anger and pain. She yelled loudly each time the axe landed onto the trunk of the tree.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut finally yelled to her. Astrid let out one last yell as she swung onto the trunk with one last devastating blow. The head of her axe broke cleanly off its handle as it wedged itself into the tree, leaving Astrid holding only the handle. She finally relaxes as she drops the handle next to her, and everything was silent except for her heavy breathing. The look of anger and pain went away and her face was back to the emotionless stare that she had when they were walking here. She was facing away from the group so none of them knew what she was feeling at that moment. Ruffnut slowly approached Astrid and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Astrid, is everything alright?" she asked.

Astrid didn't say a word as she looked at her. Her blank stare suddenly changed into a look of fury as she snarled at the group, pulled her axe head out of the trunk, and marched out of the forest. The teens just stood there again, all looking at Ruffnut for guidance. After considering for a minute, Ruffnut decided to follow Astrid to see how she is doing.

"Astrid, wait up!" she yelled to her. She was walking pretty fast, seeing that Ruffnut could barely catch up to her when running. "Astrid, please, tell me what's wrong." She finally caught up to her and pushed her shoulders to turn her around.

At first she thought Astrid was going to beat her up for not leaving her alone. She was wrong. Astrid's face wasn't blank anymore, but but it didn't look angry either. Rather her face was lined with sadness as tears were silently rolling down her face. Ruffnut suddenly felt a wave of guilt spread upon her. Astrid probably didn't want anyone to see her like this.

"I'm sorry..." Ruffnut apologized.

"I just..." Astrid sobbed. She took a deep breath. "I just...need some time alone. Please."

Ruffnut was worried about her. Astrid didn't seem like herself today and she really wanted to help her. But she decided that Astrid really do need some space at this point. She silently nodded as Astrid turned her back to Ruffnut and went back to the village.

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The village was quiet as everyone was taking a day off of work in remembrance of Hiccup. Astrid looked around the village and saw no one in sight except for the few people in the town hall in the distance who were mingling. She took this opportunity of being alone to go the forge to fix her axe.

The forge. The same forge where Hiccup use to work in.

She shakes this idea out of her head as she approached the familiar area where she use to see him pound on her axes everyday. Grabbing a hammer, she approaches the anvil and starts to hammer at the axe head, trying to get it back onto the handle. She hammers her axe hard, hoping to hammer her emotions away.

She had to put a tough face in front of the gang. She needs to show them that she can still move on with her life, and that everything would be back to normal after a few days. She thought she can just train like she always does until her arms fall off and all would be better.

But things just weren't the same anymore. Usually a good day of training always brings her spirits up. But today, doing so made her angry at herself. At the fact that nothing she did was right. Her technique was sloppy, her power was weak, her tumbles were slow, and she couldn't even chop down a tree without breaking her axe. What was wrong with her? Why was she failing at the things that she did her whole life?

It was simple. She couldn't take her mind off of Hiccup. He changed her. She couldn't do anything right knowing that the man she loved is gone. Her distraction made her miss the axe on the anvil, making her swing past it and causing the hammer to fly off her hand and land on the table near the wall. She lets out a cry of frustration as she heads over to the table to get her hammer back. But before going back to the anvil, something caught her eye.

In the drawer next to her, she spotted something shiny. She opened the drawer and gaped at the sight before her.

It was all of Hiccup's stuff.

The first thing she noticed was Hiccup's dagger, the only thing he was strong enough to carry. Astrid brushed her fingers on the rough handle, thinking how Hiccup once touched the very same handle. A burst of sadness pulsed through her body as she thought about this. There was a definite smell of fish and water, and she thought that he probably recovered it from the pond in the cove.

She looked deeper into the drawer, seeing nothing of particular interest, just some paper and rough sketches and another hammer, until she finally saw something that made her eyes grow.

_Hiccup's journal._

She stood there in amazement. This was his journal. His writing and drawings. This was _him_ in a book. No one was ever able to read his journal, and she gets to see all of it. All of him. She holds onto the book tightly knowing that she found something that can bring her closer to Hiccup. Sitting down next to the open drawer, she flips open the book and sees the first page.

At first it was just sketches of some complex contraptions. She did remember him saying something about them. "Dragon Killing Machines" he called them. She skipped a couple of pages to the end of his inventions and started to see pictures of dragons. A Monstrous Nightmare, a Terrible Terror, and at the end of it all, a picture of Toothless flying over the sea. She couldn't help but admire how well her drew, how beautiful each detail was. Once in a while a journal entry came up, but it was always about how his dad was always treating him like a kid and how he always messes up everyday. She wish he was here so that she can tell him how perfect he really is regardless of his screw ups.

She turns more pages, reaching the last quarter of the book, as she suddenly stops and stares in amazement at what was on that page.

It was a drawing of her, fighting the Deadly Nadder during dragon training. And she has to say, it looked _beautiful. _Does she even really look like that? It seems like he drew her even more beautiful than she really is. Astrid thought he must have put more time into her picture, seeing the different shades of charcoal and how even the little details of her body were drawn, from the emotions of her face to the curvature of her body. It was amazing. She flips more pages and sees another drawing of her swinging an axe onto a tree. A few more pages and she saw a picture of the two of them in the cove after their flight on Toothless. She looks closely and sees that she was kissing him on the cheek. He must have like it a lot, Astrid thought as she blushed and a few butterflies flew in her stomach.

She finally reached the final page of journal and sees the last journal entry. She decides to read it:

"_What a day to end a journal, as lot of things are happening. Tomorrow I have to kill a dragon! I don't think I'm able to do it, but how can I get out of it? My dad expects me to proudly slay the beast with my hands, but I just can't do it. I have a plan to show them exactly how calm dragons can be, but it's not guaranteed to work._

_But onto a bigger and happier part of my day, and something I never write about in my journal: Astrid.  
_

_Astrid, she is just...so beautiful. Today she caught me with Toothless and was planning on telling the tribe about us, but we managed to stop her. And not only that, but Toothless managed to get her to even treat me like a decent human being for once by taking us on a romantic flight about the clouds. Clever dragon.  
_

_But here's the cherry on top of the amazing flight I had with Astrid. She kissed me. On the cheek. With her lips. I can't believe it! Does this mean she likes me?  
_

_Every since I was a little child, I always though Astrid was the most amazing person in the world. I remember when I was eight and I always tried to hang out with her. You know, before the guys pushed me into the water to embarrass me. I remember how beautiful she looked. Whether she was just standing there or training hard she looked so darn beautiful. I always wanted to just tell her how much I like her and how beautiful she looked every day. I wish I had the courage to do so.  
_

_But swear, if all these problems in my life go away, and if I manage to grow old and manage to be together with her, I promise to always love her no matter what. She is my friend and my everything. I would tell her how amazing she is and strong she is. How beautiful she looks. How seeing her just brightens up my day. How I will never let her go and we'd be with each other forever. And I would tell her how much I love her each and every day for as long as I live.  
_

_I love you Astrid Hofferson. I really do. I. Love. You. And I always will."  
_

Astrid wipes her eyes as she sees her tears fall onto the last page of the journal. She can't believe how long Hiccup liked her. She closes the journal and hugs it close to her chest as she sat there crying into her arms.

"I love you too, Hiccup." she said through her tears. "I don't know what to do without you." And it's true. Ever since he was gone, nothing she did was right, nothing she did made her feel better. It was impossible to be here without Hiccup, and it hurt her so much each second he is not here and she wishes it would just stop. "Please Hiccup, I just want to be with you forever too. Please..." She knew it was never going to happen. But why can't she move on? She cries harder and harder and finally she realized that the only time she was truly herself and was truly happy...

...when she was with Hiccup.

She stops crying for a second and glanced above her and stares at the open drawer. She slowly gets up on her feet and reaches inside the drawer and pulls out Hiccup's dagger. She holds it softly in her hands, examining the grooves of the handle where Hiccup's hand use to be, the glare of the sharp silver blade reflecting her face...

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The teens finally decided to leave the forest, as they were getting bored training in silence and in a bad mood. They walked through the village, looking around and seeing no one in sight just like earlier. It was a long day, and all they wanted to do was to go home and rest up for the night.

A piecing scream suddenly rang through the village.

All of them jumped in shock, looking around for the source. The scream came again, this time a little weaker, but sounded just as agonizing. The group ran as fast as they could, not knowing where the sound came from, but knowing that they want to be as far away from the danger as possible.

Ruffnut however stops and listens as the scream came back. She thought for a second, and she realized it sounded a lot like...

"Guys! It's Astrid!" she yells.

The vikings, realizing that their friend is in trouble, stopped running away and started to spread out, looking for the source of the sound. Ruffnut headed towards the direction of the forge and hears the sound of the scream coming from the inside. She quickly runs through the door and looks around to see if there was anything in particular. For a second she thought there was nothing, but as she glances near her feet to her left, she saw something that made her scream out in horror.

It was Astrid, laying on the ground, slowly writhing in pain, and both her hands were clenched on the handle of Hiccup's dagger...

...the shaft of it embedded deeply into her chest.

Blood stained her shirt and was slowly leaking out of her body onto the ground as her eyes began to droop. She was dying before her very eyes. Astrid's lips formed into a creepy un-astrid-like smile when she saw Ruffnut.

"Oh my god." Ruffnut said as she kneeled down next to Astrid and pulled her body up to hers. "Astrid, what did you do?! Why did you do this?! How can you be smiling?!"

"It all makes sense, Ruff." Astrid said dreamily, her eyes staring blankly into space. "I'll be with Hiccup now."

"No...oh god no..." Ruffnut mumbled. "This can't be happening..." Ruffnut looked at her in shock. Astrid looked completely mad. When did she become like this? How can someone as strong as her decide to do something like this?

"Help!" Ruffnut screamed. "Somebody help!"

The others viking came over and gasped at the sight of Ruffnut clenching the body of a dying Astrid. She continued to bleed out her chest with a faint smile on her lips.

"It's ok, guys. Don't you see? I'll be with Hiccup..." she whispered. Her eyes began to blur. "I'm coming Hiccup. Isn't that great? We going to be together...forever."

Astrid chuckled as the vikings looked at her in horror. They can't believe what they are seeing.

"Astrid!" Ruffnut yells. "Astrid, we're going to get some help! Stay with me!"

Astrid ignores her as she smiles and stares creepily into space. "Together...forever..."

And she smiled, closed her eyes, and whispered with her last breath:

"...I promise..."

Her head fell, her muscles relaxed...

...and then she was with Hiccup.

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**Holy crap I never wrote something this tragic. Thanks for reading guys. Now for those of you who did not like how it ended, don't worry. I am going to write another alternate ending when I have the time. The alternate will still be sad, but at least it won't be as sad as this. Also the alternate ending will consist of some less "realistic" events occurring, but those events will make the story less sad. Thanks for reading guys, I really appreciate it. This is the first story I have ever written, and I know there are english errors, but constructive criticism will be appreciated. Thanks!  
**


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